Last week I said there was no buzz for the PPV, so the wrestlers would have to show out in order to make Death Before Dishonor a positive instead of a negative, and in my humble opinion, they did, for the most part. I was in attendance at the 2300 Arena, and I thought highly of the event, the venue, and the crowd in attendance. But now it’s time to look ahead to All In London and beyond as the ROH roster hits the road to Final Battle 2026! All In is in just a few days, and on that night, after defeating Kyle O’Reilly on this week’s AEW Dynamite from Glasgow in the semifinals of the Continental Challenge Cup, Nigel McGuinness will face Jon Moxley in the finals.
Ring of Honor
ROH on HonorClub #181
August 27, 2026
Santander Arena
Reading, Pennsylvania
The show opened with Bandido cutting a promo outside of the 2300 Arena after his successful ROH World Title defense against Nick Wayne. Bandido said that “some people” are saying that the ROH World Title means nothing. He said that “some people” are telling him to leave the title and “go for something else.” First, who is saying that the ROH Title means nothing? Second, why is the champion the one bringing these things to our attention? The rest of the promo was a mess too. This really should have been scrapped and done over again. I think Bandido is a great champion, but this was not good.
Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman were on commentary.
Athena cut a promo backstage reinforcing the fact that she was the “forever champion.” Final Battle has to be the end of this reign, right?
ROH Women’s Pure Title Proving Ground Match
Deonna Purrazzo def. Lacey Lane
If I had to guess, Lane hasn’t spent a lot of time studying Billy Robinson tapes, but I have to say that she looked pretty good here and these two have good chemistry. Purrazzo had no problem throwing Lane around and Lane looked great being thrown. Purrazzo continues her winning ways after successfully defending her title against Steph De Lander at Death Before Dishonor and then pinning Lane here after a “Pendulum Suplex.” Not Bad
The new ROH World TV Champion Action Andretti was cutting a promo backstage when he was joined by Hook, Bowens & Shibata. Two of whom helped him secure his victory at the PPV. Last week I commented that The Opps had run its course and Hook & Andretti as a team may be a good direction for both men. Now it looks like Andretti will be joining The Opps instead, which could work but only time will tell.
Action Andretti def. Boom Harden
Harden is a 9-year vet, graduate of the CZW Academy and did not last long here as Andretti put him away quickly with the “Lights, Camera, Action.” I’m loving the progression of Andretti’s character as he continues to impress. Squash
After the match the Rascalz interrupted Andretti’s exit with their entrance as we may have a new challenger or challengers for Andretti’s newly won title on the horizon.
The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Myron Reed & Zachary Wentz) def. Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto & Tome Filip
I blinked and almost missed this one as The Rascalz got the win after hitting three consecutive top rope moves on one half of The Natural Classics, Filip, for the 1-2-3. Squash
The Beast Mortos (w/ Sammy Guevara) def. Rob Vegas
Vegas is a former ACE Heavyweight Champion who has been wrestling since at least 2003 and before I could finish typing this sentence the match was over. The Beast Mortos gets the win after a “Pop Up Samoan Drop,” or “Alley Uce” if you are into that sort of thing. Squash
It was then time for “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith to “Chop It Up” with Caprice Coleman. They discussed the legacies of both Texas wrestling and Ring of Honor. These segments don’t dig too deep, but they are a nice little window into the wrestler’s character.
Brian Cage & RPG VICE (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) (w/ Lance Archer) def. Joey Martinez, Kiran Grey & Oxx Adams
Before the bell, this match reminded me of a random 6-man tag you would see on WWF Wrestling Challenge in 1987. Martinez is the current PPW WYLN Television Champion, Grey is an ROH regular & Adams is a 7-foot 375-pound big man who I have seen a good bit of recently on the indies, in Beyond Wrestling, PRODUCE & Limitless Wrestling to name a few. Grey started the match with Beretta with a very quick shine that was cut off by Cage. Adams’s very impressive stature made him stand out and in my opinion, he is worth another look as this match was another short one with RPG Vice hitting Grey with a “Strong Zero” for the pin. Short
Backstage Sammy Guevara with The Beast Mortos by his side cut a promo proclaiming that they are not only going after the ROH World Tag Team Titles but also the ROH World Title as Mortos will get a shot at Bandido’s title next week on HonorClub! And why wouldn’t he get a title shot? I mean in 2026 he has a singles victory in ROH over Rob Vegas and, um, well, that’s all but who cares, it’s only the ROH World Title after all. Mortos also has a match coming up on Collision against Konosuke Takeshita. Maybe he will win that one. I’m obviously joking. Tony loves sending his ROH title challengers out there before their shot to lose to the A Team so this is par for the course.
Red Velvet & Zayda Steel (w/ Christopher Daniels) def. Vertvixen & Viva Van
First, I am not the kind of person who takes enjoyment out of ripping someone apart for “stinking up the joint” and I happen to be in a good mood at the moment so let’s just say that it was a good thing that this match was so short because it was not going well. There are too many talented wrestlers on this roster to keep featuring someone who is clearly not up to the task. I do, though, look forward to watching three of these wrestlers’ bright futures. Steel pinned Van to put us all out of our misery. Mercifully Short
Backstage we heard from The Lethal Twist. Jay Lethal is now the first competitor in ROH history to win the World, World TV, Pure, World Tag Team and World Six-Man Tag Team Championships.
Bang Bang Gang (Ace Austin & Juice Robinson) def. The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) (w/ Mark Sterling, Stori Denali & BEEF)
“Smart” Mark cut a very intentional “you people promo” wearing a fresh neck brace after recently taking that horrible spill to the floor during the match between Daivari & Komander. Juice & Daivari started this main event with a color and elbow and followed that with a nice little back and forth exchange. They then proceeded to have a perfectly fine tag match that in no other world would be considered a main event of a pro wrestling show in 2026. But all four of these men know what they are doing and look good doing it so this was the highlight of the night, perhaps by default. Ace Austin got the win for the Bang Bang Gang after hitting Nese with “The Fold.” Match of the Night
Final Thoughts
After a PPV that exceeded it’s low expectations, this was a pointless and aimless show that didn’t need to happen and halted any momentum ROH may have had. I wish I had more to say and had anything to sink my teeth into but there wasn’t much to work with.
